


Do You Believe in Monsters?

by iwasnthere622



Series: Wolves vs Berserkers [15]
Category: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Gangs, Gen, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 09:31:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10896531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwasnthere622/pseuds/iwasnthere622
Summary: "So, are you going to tell me the good news?" Reno asked."We finished the tunnels!" Yuffie grinned. "With no help from you!" she added, sticking her tongue out."Oh really? And you're only," Reno paused to pretend to look at his non-existent watch, "two weeks late."





	Do You Believe in Monsters?

"Reeeeenooo," Yuffie sing-songed as she skipped down the hall, looking for their boss.

"Where are you?" she called in a huff, poking her head into rooms as she past.

"Fuck-!"

"Hey!"

"Yuffie!"

She rolled her eyes at the whiny brats, slamming doors behind herself.

"Looking for me, yeah?" Reno asked with a grin from behind her, grin widening when she jumped and spun to glare at him.

"Meanie!" Yuffie declared. "And here I had good news for you, too."

"Aw, I'm sorry, love," Reno tried, pouring on the charm, but it only made Yuffie glare harder, apparently immune.

"Where were you anyway?" she demanded.

"Can't a guy get some privacy?" Reno asked, raising an eyebrow.

Yuffie raised her eyebrow right back at him. "Not when he runs a gang," she informed him primly.

"I was pissing, Yuf, gimme a break," Reno laughed, shaking his head at her.

Yuffie studied him a minute more before deciding he was telling the truth. "Fine."

"So, are you going to tell me the good news?" Reno asked.

"We finished the tunnels!" Yuffie grinned. "With no help from you!" she added, sticking her tongue out.

"Oh really? And you're only," Reno paused to pretend to look at his non-existent watch, "two weeks late."

Yuffie smacked his arm with a glare. "Well if _someone_ hadn't sent me on an useless expedition to the boonies with Squall, it would've been done on time!"

"It wasn't useless, we gained valuable intel," Reno said, walking to his room and expecting her to follow.

Yuffie huffed. "Yeah, sure. Intel about a fairytale maybe."

"Mm. Don't you believe in fairytales, Yuffie?" Reno asked with a small grin, letting her into his room. "Out," he ordered Hayner, not wanting to have this discussion in front of the pet -- though progress was being made and he was quite obedient these days, some things were better left close to the vest.

Hayner sulked, glaring at Yuffie as he slinked out the room, knowing he was safest in Reno's bedroom.

Yuffie blew Pet a kiss before Reno shut the door and sat in his chair, lounging with legs kicked wide.

"Of course I don't," Yuffie answered the question with an eyeroll. "Fairytales make you believe in things other than reality, which causes distractions, which causes mistakes and usually a painful death."

"Perhaps," Reno acknowledged her point. "But haven't you ever heard a story -- a good one -- and believed in the monster? Haven't you ever looked into the darkness and felt fear run up your spine?"

Yuffie eyed Reno. "What game are you playing at, Reno? What monster are you looking to poke?"

"Not poke, just... become more aware of. Prepare against. Gather the army and set the guard preemptively," Reno said, waving a hand.

"You're insane, you know that?" Yuffie asked, hands on her hips and shaking her head. "That intel was not intel, it wasn't even a fairytale or a good story -- it was lies. It was a defense to the questioning, a way to focus the mind to keep it from spilling secrets it shouldn't, it was a diversion."

"A diversion from what, then?" Reno asked. "Did you or did you not do your job with him?"

Yuffie growled. "Are you implying I did anything less?"

"Aren't you?" Reno countered. "If, at the end of yours and Sqaull's great talents being applied to body and mind, the intel was this, don't we have to take it as truth? Could he still have been lying?"

"That's what you're not understanding! It's a defense mechanism to prevent breaking--"

"So neither of you broke him then?"

Yuffie groaned, spinning and starting to pace, wanting to just slap Reno silly! "Yes! But not the way we wanted! Some people... they break into tiny pieces, Reno. The body goes first and the mind just collapses into useless goo. Just like you could never get information from Squall if you tried, or me... we couldn't get it from him because he'd twisted it so much with his story that it became real."

Reno considered that. "He was telling the truth, to his own mind, yeah?"

Yuffie studied Reno wearily. "Yes, yeah, I guess so. He thought it was true, so it was and that's all we got. But it was a defense trick, I've seen it before."

"When?" Reno demanded, eyes suddenly sharp, posture straightening as he shifted forward, intensely focused on her now.

Yuffie paused, baffled. "What? Years ago, when we first started out. In the south, before Squall killed everyone and we left."

"What did they say?" Reno demanded.

"Reno, it was years ago," Yuffie said, rolling her eyes when he just stared her down. "It was more of the same, the shadows that move, whispers, mysterious disappearances... monsters."

"Do you believe in monsters, Yuffie?" Reno asked, quite seriously.

Yuffie's eyes narrowed. "I believe in the human kind."

"So do I," Reno said. "But I also believe in the nameless fear that ripples through a group before catastrophe, in the darkness that devours."

"That's what he said," Yuffie said, pausing now, eyeing Reno thoughtfully, mind whirling. "The darkness that devours all is coming."

Reno's eyes glinted and he grinned, showing teeth. " _Excellent_."

"What the hell is going on, Reno?" Yuffie demanded.

"The monsters are coming," Reno answered, relaxing back into his chair.

"...You're insufferable. I will find out what this is about," Yuffie warned.

"Mm, do your best, yeah? But," Reno warned, "no discussing this with anyone, understood?"

Now Yuffie was really curious, and also maybe a little worried. What was the boss planning...  "Not even Squall?"

Reno debated that one, eventually deciding against it -- it wouldn't do for their hitman to tip their hand unknowingly. "No."

Yuffie's eyes narrowed.

"Yuffie, your word," Reno said, steel in his voice.

Yuffie stared, but she eventually gave in, reluctantly nodding. "If we die for your insane monster hunt, I'll kill you," she threatened.

"Noted," Reno said wryly, grinning a bit. "The tunnels?"

Yuffie sighed, relaxing her posture as they switched topics -- she wasn't letting this go, but if Reno didn't want to talk about it now, she'd have to get creative to get the information in other ways. "All done, as I said."

"Good. How many egresses?" Reno asked.

"Thirteen," Yuna answered. "Though we should only have need of the four main directionals."

Reno just hummed. "Traps?"

Yuffie nodded. "It's a maze down there now -- we made all the halls identical on purpose. If you're looking for the navigational trick, you won't find one because I didn't make one."

Reno raised an eyebrow. "Sora and Namine allowed that?"

Yuffie snorted. "Namine loved the idea, thought it'd be more fun. And Sora does what Namine tells him too, like a good boy."

Reno chuckled. "Maps, then?"

Yuffie just shook her head. "Nope. Didn't allow those either."

"Really, now?" Reno asked, impressed and glad he'd given this task to her to lead.

Yuffie nodded. "Myself, Sora, Namine, and Squall have the routes memorized. I can take you, Rude, and the rest to learn them. Memorizing them limits the chances of an enemy finding it and using it against us."

"Good work," Reno praised. "We'll do the field trip tomorrow. Anything else?"

"Nothing more than what you'd requested -- a few hidden storage rooms, emergency kits, grenades and knives and a few guns, ammo... I made several prisoner cells scattered about, and two interrogation chambers," Yuffie reported.

Yes, Reno was _very_ happy with this project. "I knew I could count on you!" he grinned.

"What is this for, you never said," Yuffie asked casually.

Reno chuckled. "Our own private fun house, yeah?"

"That's all?" Yuffie pressed.

"You know, Yuffie, you're starting to sound a bit paranoid," Reno remarked.

"That tends to happen when my boss leaves me out of the loop," Yuffie shrugged.

Reno chuckled. "Nothing else," he promised.

"Hmm. Okay. Well just so you know, should any... monsters... arrive, the tunnels would provide both shelter and a battlefront," Yuffie said, satisfied with her guess when Reno's grin grew a bit sharper for a moment before he relaxed back to his easy-going look.

"I'll make a note of that," he said instead, nodding at the door. "Let everyone know about our little trip tomorrow. Sora and Namine can stay here with Pet."

"He doesn't get a mental map?" Yuffie questioned with a small frown.

"Mm, not yet. Once everyone else has theirs, we can test your creation with live bait," Reno grinned.

Yuffie grinned at that, clapping her hands. "Excellent!"

Reno chuckled. "Go on! Send Pet back if you find him, he'll need his rest for tomorrow."

Yuffie nodded and left, skipping down the hall.

Reno thought for a moment before standing and stretching, knocking once on the hidden door in the back.

Rude opened the door a moment later. "Boss?"

"Any reports about new bodies appearing in this city?" Reno asked.

"Dead or alive?"

"Either."

"New girl, about a month ago now. We think she was picked up by the Wolves," Rude answered.

Reno hummed, dismissing that. "Nothing else?"

"Nothing," Rude confirmed.

Reno nodded slowly. "Have Larx do a full perimeter check of the whole town, get the outlier's feelings on things."

"Something up, Boss?" Rude wanted to know.

"Not sure yet," Reno answered. "But something is coming. And we need to be ready for it."

\--

Tifa stared at the mutilated body of a twelve year old girl, lying broken and naked in a ditch at the edge of town, right near the Berserker border.

"Tell Rox and Zex to find the opening -- Cloud goes in this week," she ordered, eyes hard as she look up at Barret. "They need to pay for this."

Barret nodded, jaw clenched. "They will."


End file.
